Leídan Aznawar of Khand

They ran indeed into humans, but these were very cautious. Leídan found traces of humans over the path that took deep into the mountains and provided them with much green growing on the hills. He had never been in these parts, but he knew the Ered Harmal in the east. The carriage rolled on without problems. The cold was quite severe here in the nights, but he could not allow a fire to burn as it would draw attention to them. During the day they rode on in silence as much as possible. On the fifth day that the caravan had entered the mountains Arzâgar had disappeared. He didn’t go after the slave. It was the man’s own choice. He spoke with Neida softly about it in their own tribal language. “Burtz shall most likely disappear as well soon we enter his tribal lands or are nearby them. I don’t trust him,” Neida entrusted this to her brother. Leídan nodded. “I don’t either. Arzâgur is now on his own. It is expected we lose some of them, by disappearance of by fight.” They said nothing in the following hours. The climb was getting tougher and the women had to leave the carriage. The others dismounted taking the horses by reins. Neida and Leídan walked as well. Their Azumehda were not fond of the cold. The boys had to walk as well. Nobody complained and helped where possible. The road circled on. Eyes no longer watched them, reported Nawúe who returned from reconnaissance. Deep in the mountains, the climb stopped and they came upon ice-covered plains. All underground was frozen and the ground cracked under their feet. It was such a different world than they had ever seen and it seemed unimaginable that this existed even in the warm sandy lands. It was if the old myths of endless miles of ice were coming true here. The sun shone watery through the clouds, and added more ghostly effects. They walked through this deserted land.

Two days this travel endured. Even Burtz was full of awe about all the ice. In the evenings, he took out a nice and cut some rough ice statues. He didn’t mingle with anyone. The rest of them sat together and shared stories. Eremir didn’t mind it, talking about his years with the Gondorians. None of them knew stories from the lands in the northwest. “Hm, steward Denethor has a quite tragic life. He was born in the time that his grandfather Turgon still ruled as steward. At 21 he saw Sauron re-emerge and so started building his fortress Barad-dur again. Then the volcano burst out again. He was brave man, and his eldest son Boromir is the same, very spirited,” he told. “Even these times are still very troubled. It is a few decades ago since I was there.” “That is not a hard concern. It is great to hear something from the northern lands. We hear a very little of them,” said Nawúe with a smile. All the men sat together. The women sat at a little distance and listened as well. Provisory they had set a tent at one side of the carriage where they would all sleep. The women on the left side, a curtain between, and the men on the right side.

A week later they were out of the mountains and the cold, and entered a land full of hills. They were high enough to block view, but hindered not in progressing the journey. But it was green land and the animals had enough food and drink to find. A tribe from Perzarsan below the Muzeida river had crossed the waters and found this spring a new rich and empty land here. They were horse-culture like the Rohirrim in the north, as Eimear told and explained to them all. They were excellent riders, and could travel long distances sitting in the saddle. She was an amazon herself, but could not ride now for her delicate condition. Burtz surprised them all to give her advises, even she didn’t ask. None asked why he did, and he refused to explain. He was allowed to be what he wanted to be. On an evening Leídan called all the slaves together, and that was everyone, except for him and Neida. “Currently and officially even it has never been spoken out, you are all my property. You were bought by my sister on the market at Oud Ilaz. Perhaps Neida said to some of you that you were free. But even the Azumenúkhad have their rules on property. Her words don’t count so much, as I am alive. She knows it and you, Muïda and Nawúe, know it as well.” He looked from his sister to Muïda and her son, and the man Nawúe, who had all three come first with them. His gaze moved on to Eimear and Narish, then to Burtz and Eremir at last. He didn’t smile as he went on. “I have a purpose with this meeting altogether. I come from a tribe, where we don’t really believe that living beings are the property of one another. Not human beings. Some of you have become friends; some just see me as an enemy. I am giving you all your freedom back. You are officially free to go where you want. We all know that it is impossible to guard one and other.” He took a deep sigh, reading surprise on all faces, including Neida. “Being the owner of you all is more a burden than you think.”

Leídan stood still among them. “The best advice I can give is to stay altogether until we reach roads and lands where you can split off and return to your lands safely. The choice is yours.” He said nothing and wandered off with Neida so the group could discuss it among themselves. The next morning the sphere had somewhat changed, and even the lesser talkative Burtz and Eremir said a bit more. All declared they would stay together and travel on, until it was time to separate. It took a few weeks more before they left the land of the hills and came to the city of Kruk Mabur.